God’s Remedy: The Gospel

Up until this point we have seen that God created man for His glory. We looked at the idea of dominion, masculinity, femininity, marriage, children, etc. We saw that Adam and Eve completely failed God at every single point when they sinned. We then saw how sin has completely affected every aspect of human existence. The point of the first three chapters of Genesis is to expose the complete failure of Adam and all those who inherit his nature. We all have no hope of ever being restored to the utopia that is Eden. This hope will never be found in any descendant of Adam. Even if it were possible, the snake would still come along to tempt us, and we would repeat Adam’s failure all over again. It is in this hopelessness that God gives hope.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15

This verse is called the protoevangelion or the “first mention of the Gospel.” This verse is the good news in the midst of all the evil and curse that Adam and Eve are now experiencing. This verse lays out the one and only hope for mankind: the Seed of the woman. In this passage we note several things:

1. The snake will hate the woman and her Seed. We will find over and over again in Scripture the attempt of the devil to destroy the fruit of the womb. The devil tries to cut off the woman’s seed in the hopes of destroying the Seed that will destroy him.
2. The Seed of the woman is singular, meaning that we are going to be looking for One and only One descendant. This One will restore what Adam destroyed through his sin.
3. The Seed of the woman is not a descendant of Adam, only Eve. This means that this Seed will have a different nature than Adam while at the same time having the same nature as Eve. This also means that this Seed will also not have an earthly father.
4. The Seed of the woman will crush or destroy the head of the snake. This means that His redemption, restoration, and salvation will be complete and final. The snake will never rise again, so that there will be no one to drag His redeemed creation back into sin and evil.
5. The Seed of the woman will bring about the restoration of mankind at great personal cost. His heel will be bruised by the snake. His victory over the snake will be personal and painful. The poison of the snake will kill him, but He will be able to rise again because His head was not crushed.
6. The Seed of the woman will succeed where Adam has failed. When His wife is deceived by the snake, He will fight the snake and protect His bride. He will then die her death so that she might live.
7. The Seed of the woman will be the Second Adam, or in other words, the One Who succeeded where Adam failed. If we are to be saved we must somehow be rid of Adam’s nature and be given the nature of the Second Adam. We must have a new family, a new Father, a new birth. We must become new creations if we are to live.

The whole rest of the Bible now turns to this question, “Who will be the chosen Seed of the woman?” Will it be Cain? Abel? Seth? Will it be Ishmael or Isaac? Jacob or Esau? Which one of Israel’s sons will bring forth the One? The whole rest of the Bible begins to narrow down the descendants of the woman. All along the way we will see men who are restorers, redeemers, and saviors; however, each one falls victim to the snake and is not ultimately victorious. Through their stories we learn that the Seed of the woman will be a Lawgiver better than Moses, a King better than David, a Man wiser than Solomon, born of a virgin, etc., etc. This Seed of the woman is Jesus. He is the Second Adam who is victorious over the snake.